BYJU’S, India’s most valued education technology company, announced a new round of funding of $500 million at a valuation of $10.8 billion from Silver Lake, the leading global technology investment firm. Existing investors Tiger Global, General Atlantic and Owl Ventures also participated in this round.
“We are excited to welcome a strong partner like Silver Lake to the BYJU’S family. We are fortunate to be in a sector of positive relevance during this crisis. This has brought online learning to the forefront and is helping parents, teachers and students experience and understand its value. Our classrooms are changing possibly for the first time in 100 years and I’m really excited about the opportunities that we have to redefine the future of learning,” said Byju Raveendran, founder and CEO, BYJU’S.
The company has continued to support students in their learning journey during this pandemic. In response to the closure of schools due to the ongoing pandemic, the company had made content on its learning app free for all students. Over the last few months, BYJU’S has entered the after-school learning space with the launch of BYJU’S Classes, a comprehensive online tutoring programme.
“We are delighted to lead this investment and partner with Byju and his impressive team of education technology pioneers in their mission to help children in India and around the world achieve their true potential,” said Greg Mondre, Co-CEO of Silver Lake. “We look forward to working with them as BYJU’S builds on and accelerates its compelling growth trajectory by forging new partnerships and continuing to cultivate a comprehensive ecosystem of innovative educational offerings.”
Since the lockdown, BYJU’S has seen over 20 million new students start learning from its platform for free. Today, the app has over 64 million registered students and 4.2 million annual paid subscriptions. BYJU’S had doubled its revenue from ₹1,430 crore to ₹2,800 crore in FY19-20.
Last month, BYJU’S acquired WhiteHat Jr., a Mumbai based coding platform in a $300-million cash deal. With coding fast emerging as a key skill for the future, this integration will also accelerate BYJU’S international expansion plans.